of such food.[1] When a husband was so fortunate as to possess two blankets, his widow sometimes kept one of them. The name of the deceased was not mentioned thereafter, and all things possible were done to obliterate his memory from the minds of the survivors except that the rites of mourning were practised for some time.
The death of a pauper who had nothing to leave at the grave released a vexed soul to wander about until some one in charity placed an offering on the grave. Sometimes the paraphernalia of a medicine-man, when it was not handed down to a successor in the family, was concealed in an olla in the hills instead of being destroyed. More rarely these caches were made of the property of ordinary men. Figure 101 shows such a cache, which was found in a rugged granite hill about 4 miles south of Casa Blanca. The olla was covered with a bowl, and as neither was broken it was perfectly water-tight. Among the contents of the cache (pl. XL) were a number of crystals and concretions, a neatly carved stone rattlesnake, three seashells for use in medicine, and a war club. The last was too large to be placed in the olla, and, being exposed outside, it was somewhat gnawed by rodents.
MOURNING
In mourning for near relatives the men cut their hair so that it does not fall below the middle of the back. The women cut theirs to the level of the ear lobes for husband, child, etc., and an aged widow cropped her hair close to the head "because she felt the worst." In all cases the cut hair was buried in the sand of the river bed; if it were burned it would cause headache and death. And yet when blankets were destroyed at the death of their owner they were burned.
Very few widows mourned for the full period of four years. During that time they were compelled to remain at home, to refrain from washing their hair, and to cry aloud the name of the deceased every morning at daybreak. They were allowed to bring their blankets up around under the armpits, but not over the shoulders, even in the coldest weather. When the chemise was adopted, as the blankets went out of use, it was customary to revert to the blankets during the period of mourning.
Social Organization
OFFICERS
The Pimas are governed by a head chief and by a chief for each village. These men are assisted by village councils, which do not, the author believes, appoint any representatives to the tribal coun-
- ↑ Compare Bourke, "When a Mohave dies, there is a feast made of some of his horses and other edibles; but none of his clansmen will eat of it." Journal of American Folk-Lore, II, 184.
